In most Indo-European languages, two-part ("bahuviri") names were common. Examples include Greek Cleopatra "fame-father", and Germanic Hludwig "fame-war". The meanings of the names typically referred to concepts such as glory and strength.

The main exception was the Italic languages, including Latin. These languages developed their own system of three names, each typically referring to just one concept. For example "Lucius", probably meaning something like "shining".